Singing For You
by mockingjay08
Summary: Christine Daae has just graduated from high school and is moving to college. She has it all: popularity, the best boyfriend ever, the best friend ever, beauty, kindness, and a gorgeous singing voice. These charming characteristics win everyone over; even the most broken and beautiful souls.
1. Chapter 1

The old dilapidated truck inched its way across the intersection, taking its precious time, despite the fact of the trail of cars the tailed behind him, the occasional honk ringing throughout the air.

Christine bit her lower lip, her left arm resting on the car door. The window was rolled down, making way for summer air to blow through the car, not exactly helping with the heat. She sighed and switched the radio on, her dead phone in the cup holder, ear buds splayed out next to it.

Music burst through the old Hyundai's speaker, jolting her from her lazy summer relaxation. This major street would have had Christine on her toes on any other day, but this truck driver had to be going twenty miles an hour.

Passion Pit's "Carried Away" finished, silencing the air for a few moments before bursting into more song. The tell tale beginning notes of Ariana Grande's "The Way" sounded, drawing Christine's attention back to the truck. Finally! The light blue pickup turned into a neighborhood, the car behind Christine breaking out in cheers.

Christine gave up and finally rolled the windows up, cranking on the AC that barely even worked anymore. _"You give me that kind of something. Want it all the time need it everyday"_, she sang along with Ariana, her voice breaking through the fuzzy song. Some would say she was better than the Nickelodeon actress herself.

The mall loomed ahead of her, signaling Christine to turn her blinker on. The eighteen-year old girl parked at the mall's parking lot, scanning for Meg's shiny, straight blond hair, Sierra's brown-red locks, or Emmy's light brown waves.

Not spotting them, Christine stepped out of the car, hit with yet another wave of summer heat. She sighed and smoothed down her light gray circle skirt perched above her hips. Her white converse gleamed in the bright sun, and her neon pink crop top fluttered in the slight breeze.

She shaded her eyes, searching for her best friends. Her messy bun tickled the back of her perfectly tanned neck.

"Christine!" someone jumped out from behind her, scaring the crap out her. "Ahhhh!" she screamed, jumping back.

"God, Christine! Chill!" Meg laughed, coming around her car to embrace her best friend. Emmy covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stop her laughter.

Christine waved to Sierra, who was also chuckling. From the other side, someone embraced her, wrapping strong arms around her waist.

Without having to look, Christine leaned into his touch. "Raoul", she whispered. She pulled him in for a kiss, her friends wolf-whistling around her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, smiling at him as she ran her fingers through her wind-blown curls.

"Haha, I guess we forgot to tell you. It's like, Clear Creek's reunion! Before we all part ways to college", Sierra said with a dramatic flourish.

Christine giggled. "Aww, that's a great idea!" She turned towards an old Volkswagen van that had just pulled up, and several more of Christine's friends and their boyfriends poured out.

"Alright, people, listen up. Panera and then beach, okay?" Meg yelled over the excited murmurs of everyone.

They all cheered, and soon couples held each other close, best friends forever linked arms, and a couple of the football guys punched each other playfully on the arm, laughing.

Meg and Sierra linked arms in front of Christine and Raoul, giggling and laughing at what they said to each other. Emmy quietly held hands with Ethan, her new boyfriend. He was super cute, but also really shy.

"I'll be right back", Christine murmured to Raoul. who nodded and went to join the other guys. She wrapped her arms around Sierra and Meg, interrupting their conversation.

"Guys! I wish you had told me we were going to the beach. I don't have a swimsuit", Christine told them.

Sierra giggled. "Don't worry, we got you covered". She held up a Target bag Christine hadn't noticed before.

"Thanks!" She glanced over her shoulder at Raoul, who was messing around with the rest of the guys, and continued walking next to Sierra and Meg until they reached Panera's outdoor patio.

Raoul inched beside her and grabbed her waist again as everyone poured into a messy line at the cashier. Around her , Christine saw old ladies talking over French onion soup, despite the ninety degree weather outside. Panera staff lazily talked together, perking up when they saw the big crowd walk in. A couple of sophomore girls rolled their eyes at the tittering college freshman, and continued to rapidly type on their phones, probably sending tweets.

Christine sighed and inched closer to Raoul, holding him tight. In a week she would be off to college. Meg, Raoul, and herself had managed to get into the same college; it had even already been planned that Christine and Meg would room together. But Sierra and Emmy had taken their interests elsewhere, contemplating Julliard at first, but then deciding against it and moving onto a state college.

Christine had lived in the small but prosperous town of Clear Creek ever since her family adopted her, when she two years old. She had fit in perfectly with the family, even gaining a younger sister, Courtney in the process. Her mother had been MIA since a few weeks after she was born, and her father had died of cancer when she was one and a half.

She had a wonderful adopted family, but adoption had never been kinder to anyone. She was a star tennis player, having just relieved her position of co-captain because of college. She had a bunch of friends, and her phone was constantly buzzing with offers or hellos, asking the popular girl to go for some coffee at Starbucks or go to the beach was some friends. But only a few of those kids stuck with her throughout the years.

Meg and her had become immediate friends in preschool, clicking and staying that way through current day. Raoul and Christine had met in kindergarten, even having a pretend wedding in the middle of first grade. Soon, it became serious and they began dating in freshman year, still close and firmly together.

"What do you want, Little Lotte?" Raoul quietly asked her, eyeing the menu.

"Raoul! I told you not to use that name for me!" she playfully punched his arm.

"But no one heard!" he fake-whined, leading Christine to punch him arm again.

"Fine", she mock-grumbled.

The line quickly progressed as all ten of the now-college-freshman ordered their food, much to the annoyance of the cashier and staff, who were mostly college students themselves.

Several heated glares and squeals of laughter later, they were filing out of Panera, brown paper bags with bread logos in hand.

A young woman and her two small children were tugging their way into the mall, pointing and laughing. The little boy fell lightly on the hot asphalt and soon broke out in tears. The mother let go of the little girl for a second to pick up the boy, his curly blond hair falling into tear-streaked face. It was enough time for the little girl to walk over to Christine and Raoul, her blond pigtails fluttering in the warm breeze.

"You're pretty", she said to Christine shyly, smiling.

Raoul nodded beside Christine. "Thank you! So are you", Christine told her.

"I agree. She's pretty sexy", Raoul said to the little girl. The mother overheard, snatching her little girl up again and frowned at Raoul.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am", Christine called to the retreating mother's back. She just turned and glared at both of them, just as the little girl asked her, "Mommy? What does sexy mean?"

"God Raoul, did you have to?" Christine chuckled. She tossed her purse into the back seat and Raoul ducked into the passenger seat.

"What? I just told her the truth!" he protested as Christine shut the car door of the driver's seat.

"Mhm", she said, not starting the car yet, one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed in mock disappointment.

"Trust me, it's true", he said. He leaned over the middle console and drew her in for a kiss. She closed her eyes, feeling that wonderful feeling that reverberated from their kiss to her entire body.

"We're going to be the last ones there", she murmured, reluctantly pulling away.

"I wouldn't care", he grumbled.

"And I wouldn't either. But the fact that we're the only ones in the car, and that we're a couple at that, I think everyone's going to figure out what we were doing", she laughed.

"Well then let them see. It's a relationship, not a crime", he pecked her on the lips once more before she started the car, slowly backing out of the parking lot.

Christine turned the radio back on and began to hum in tune, the windows wide open as the wind blew threw her hair, messing up her bun even more.

Raoul looked at her. "Christine I had no idea I was dating a singer", he smiled at her, resting his hand on her lap.

"You aren't", she said simply.

"Hell yeah I am. I never got a chance to tell you how beautiful you sang at graduation. Even Mr. Walker was almost in tears", he said, referring to their no-nonsense principal. Christine blushed. He was talking about when she sang the Star-Spangled Banner during graduation.

"Thank you Raoul", she glanced over at him and smiled.

"Well, you deserved it. It was like you had an angel of music teaching you".

She laughed at his absurd thought. "No Raoul, no angel of music".


	2. The Best Gift Ever

**Sorry there isn't a name for the first chapter; fanfiction isn't letting me rename it. -_- **

Christine stepped out of the curtained off bathroom, shading her eyes from the sun. Her cotton bra, underpants, skirt, and shirt lay in the Target bag. She wore her bikini and a light cotton dress she had found balled up in the back of her car's trunk.

Christine ran over to where the rest of them were scattered about, already beginning to eat their food. A few of them waved to Christine, and she smiled and waved back, making her way over to where Raoul, Meg, Sierra, Emmy, and her boyfriend, Ethan sat.

They ate their lunch happily, talking about college and how fast school had gone by for them. When they were finished, Sierra collected their trash and threw it away.

"Little Lotte, do you want to go swimming?" Raoul asked her, once again using the pet name her real biological father had used on her.

"Raoul..." Christine warned, smiling.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Do you still love me?" he pouted.

"You don't even know", she whispered seductively, kissing him.

He grinned. "Well in that case..." He picked her up abruptly, peeling her dress off and revealing her bikini. He picked her up, running toward the ocean.

"Raoul!" she squealed. In seconds, she was in the ocean, soaking wet and giggling. Raoul swam a few feet away, bawling with laughter.

She dove under the water, engulfed with seaweed and saltwater. She quickly swam over to him, tackling him underwater.

"Ahhh!" she heard him yelp. She dragged him under water, pulling him in for a long kiss, or as long as they could hold their breath.

They came up again, both of them smiling. "I needed to do that in private", Christine told him, holding onto him as he kept both of them afloat. He gently kissed her in response.

Together, they swam back to the beach, the chatter of teenagers drawing them back to reality.

Christine grabbed her dress from the ground, shaking the sand out of it. The screams and shouts of little kids running around, making sand castles shrilly sounded throughout the beach, while their young moms lay on their backs, bikini straps untied as they tried to relax and tan, while keeping an eye on their kids at the same time.

She plopped down on the picnic blanket her friends had set out, Raoul sitting down next to her, his arm around her waist. Her long hair was even longer when it was wet, reaching to her butt as the curls were dragged out with the heaviness of the water.

The light turquoise color of her bikini was darker with water, the white polka dots standing out on it. There was a pink bow in the middle of the top, also with white polka dots on it. The bottom was the same turquoise pattern, but was tied together with the pink and white polka dot pattern. It showed off Christine's flat stomach perfectly, the halter top seeming to fit perfectly around her neck.

Little kids ran randomly around, some screaming at the top of their lungs when the waves slapped against their feet. Bored looking mothers sat or lay on beach towels, trying to get a tan while at the same time trying to keep a watchful eye on their offspring.

Christine leaned against Raoul comfortably, watching the beautiful turquoise waves lap onto the sad, drawing back as fast as they came. "We're leaving tomorrow", she murmured to him.

"I know. I am so lucky that I'll still be able to be with you", he said back. Christine smiled. She certainly had no intention of leaving him when she got into college. She couldn't imagine her life without him.

She gently pecked him on the cheek in reply, not wanting the day to end.

But alas it did end, drawing them out of their summer daze as they went home to their packed mess, boxes and suitcases strung out in every which way.

Christine softly shut the door behind her, her dry clothes back on and carrying her purse and the Target bag. "Christine?" her father rang out from the living room.

"Dad?" Christine called back, walking into the living room. A movie was softly playing on the TV and her mom sat curled up in a corner of the couch, leaning her head on her dad's shoulder just like Christine and Raoul would. She smiled. She was so lucky to have them as her parents. She had heard of orphans who always jumped from foster home to foster home, or ones that, even if they did get adopted, their parents were extreme drunks or something like that. But no, she had gotten the privilege of being adopted by Hughes, the most loving family she could wish for.

By their wishes, her last name had remained Daae. Any other kid may be offended by it, thinking that it was a constant reminder that they would never really live with their real parents again. But they had made sure Christine was comfortable with that as her last name, and Christine was actually grateful that they had kept it for her. It made her feel connected to her father, a reminder that no matter how kind the Hughes were, she would always be her father, Gustave Daae's, actual daughter.

"Hey sweetie", her mom gave a small wave from the couch.

Christine smiled. "Hey Mom". She tossed her bags on a nearby chair and sat down next to her mom on the couch.

"Oh, Christine, Courtney's here. She told me to tell you that she has something for you", her dad told her over his shoulder. Christine nodded and hopped off of the couch, taking the bags she had just thrown on the chair with her. "Thanks". She wrapped her arms around her dad from behind, feeling him smile.

Hopping the stairs two at a time, she came to a stop outside of the door to her room. Twisting the knob, she stepped in, really taking in her room as she hadn't since the last five years.

The main colors of the room were black, white, and a sophisticated burgundy to set off the sophisticated Paris-themed room. It hadn't been changed except for maybe the occasional updated pictures of her and her friends since seventh grade. It was seventh grade Christine got on the straight-A honor-roll, much to the delight of Mr. ad Mrs. Hughes, who gave her a room makeover as reward for "doing so good her first year of middle school".

A black stick-on decal of the Eiffel Tower was stuck onto a corner of the crisp-white walls. A burgundy frame held a picture of Meg, Christine, Emmy, and Sierra linked arms wearing ski gear. A collage of photos showed picture of them again, in one they were in the halls of their high school, Raoul photo-bombing in the background. It made Christine smiles every time she saw it.

When she saw it this time, though, it struck her with a certain type of sadness, the only kind of feeling you knew if you had experienced the day before moving onto the biggest next step of your life: college.

She sighed and tossed her bags on her bed, then headed to the room across from hers to see what Courtney had to give her.

"Court?" she asked, gently knocking on the already open door.

"Yeah?" the sixteen-year old blond turned around in her desk chair, a laptop on her desk with her Facebook page opened up. She smiled when she saw Christine standing in the doorway.

"I have something to give you", she stood up from her chair as Christine sat on her bed.

After scrambling around her room as if in search of something, Courtney handed a flat square something. Christine turned it over.

Nestled in a white, vintage looking frame was a picture. Just one picture, but what was in it made Christine want to cry. It was her as a little girl, her arms wrapped around a very familiar someone.

Her father smiled at little Christine in the picture. "Courtney... where did you get this? Thank you so much!" she took her up in a big hug, taking Courtney by surprise.

Courtney shrugged like it was nothing. "About a month ago, it came in the mail. Someone anonymous had sent it, saying they had found it and thought you would enjoy it. Dad thought it was a good idea to frame it and give it to you as a small college present from me".

"It means the world to me", Christine said, hugging the frame to her chest. Now she would never forget her father's face.

She would never love anyone else more.


End file.
